


Legendary Ghosbuster

by Akemichan



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fans & Fandom, Canonical Character Death, Gen, M/M, Minor Character Death, Pre-Slash, canonical violence, for the stories in the dark bang, it's a sort of ghosbuster au, minor shiro/keith, with Shiro as secretary like the last movie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2019-11-04
Packaged: 2021-01-15 16:41:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21256400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akemichan/pseuds/Akemichan
Summary: “Hi,” Keith says. He doesn’t move.The ghost print of Alfor remains still. Then, he opens his mouth. “Voltron.”“Voltron,” Keith repeats. “What it does mean?”“Voltron,” Alfor says. “Voltron.”“It is a person? An acronym? Why this is important?” Keith asks again.“Voltron,” is the only answer.Allura Altea has a case for the Ghostbusters. It will bring them to their most dangerous adventures.Written for "Stories in the Dark" Big Bang.





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this story for the "Stories in the dark" Big Bang and I've been lucky to work with Numbah34, who's also the author of the title for this fanfiction!  
Numbah34, thank you very much for having been my partner!
> 
> I'll add the art as soon as possible, in the meantime, you can check the Tumblr here: https://numbah34.tumblr.com/
> 
> Edit: add art! In the original link here: https://numbah34.tumblr.com/post/188816400068/who-you-gonna-call-here-is-my-art-contribution
> 
> I'm a huuuuge Sheith shipper so I can't resist putting something about them inside this story, but it's actually mostly gen, with some pining from these two idiots.
> 
> If you'd like, my voltron account on twitter is here for everyone: @AkemilovesS
> 
> Have a nice reading!

It’s a boring day.

Well, it has been a boring week. Being a ghostbuster can be considered exciting from outside; it is, but it’s not the kind of work that gets a big market. With the technology era, most people don’t believe in ghosts anymore. People who do, most of the time doesn’t have a job to offer. Their last work was freeing a house from a Poltergeist, and the owner didn’t even pay them.

With a sigh, Shiro closes his laptop. He takes the folder and climbs the stairs to reach the mansard, which is the ghostbusters’ lair. Except for Keith, who was out for a commission, the others are there. Lance is sprawling on the sofa; next to him, Hunk is leafing through a book, while Pidge, on the floor, is playing with her Playstation Portable. They all shot a look at Shiro.

“What’s that?” Lance asks, pointing at the folder Shiro has in his hand. He looks worried. Well, he should be.

“It’s the list of the expenses cut we need to do if we want to survive until we find a customer that actually pays us,” Shiro answers. Before anyone can protest, he takes the first paper. “First of all, no more purchases from the Central Market. It’s too expensive.”

“Oh, come on,” Hunk murmurs. “Fighting ghosts needs a healthy and balanced diet.”

“Well, it’s either eating pre-cooked food or not eating at all from now on.” He turns to Pidge. “No more videogames from the time being.”

“But they help me keep my brain active! I need them!” she protests.

“You have at least one hundred ones in your wardrobe. And five consoles. Do you prefer selling them?”

“No.” She pouts.

“Then play them again. Lance, I forbid you to have more than one shower every two days.”

Lance looks outrageous. “Are you going to ruin my reputation? God, I’m gonna smell so bad no one would dare to get near me.”

The other three lifts their eyebrows. “Lance, you have to admit five showers in a day are a little… unnecessary,” Hunk comments.

“Unnecessary for you,” Lance replies. “I’m pretty sure we can cut some other expenses.”

“The last thing is the paychecks of the agency’s secretary,” Shiro says. “Who, if you don’t remember, is me.”

“Oh.” Lance hums for a second, under the disapproving look of Hunk and Pidge. “Why did we hire you in the first place?”

“Because I’m hot and soft and apparently this works with customers,” Shiro replies. “Or so Keith says.”

“Well, he’s not wrong, for once,” Lance admits. “Hey, by the way, what do you cut off from Keith’s expenses?”

Nothing. The answer is nothing because Keith doesn’t have expensive hobbies. Of course, he can’t tell this to Lance, or he will be accused to play favorite again (which isn’t true, especially because Keith’s supposed to be the boss of the agency, but still…). Before he can find a way to answer, Pidge coughs.

“Uhm, guys… We might have a new client.”

She’s looking through the open window. Shiro moves next to her. A limousine parks next to the pedestrian, in front of the agency. It’s a white car, not a stain on it.

“Nah,” Hunk says. “It’s impossible.”

A man in a suit that was fashionable at least twenty years ago opens the back door of the car, so the passenger can get off. It’s a young woman, with long white hair that glitters in the sunlight and perfect dark skin. A blue short dress enlightens her perfect body and the heels make her long legs standing even more. Even Shiro’s gay ass admits she’s gorgeous.

“My God,” Lance exhales. “She’s Allura Altea.”

“Who?” Pidge asks.

“She’s, like, my favorite actress. She’s great, you know. And gorgeous. And… Like, I have a couple of her posters in my room.”

Oh, that is why Shiro thinks she looks familiar. He keeps his eyes on her as she looks around the street. Then, with three firm steps, she moves to open the door of the agency and disappears inside; the man follows her.

“She mistakes our place,” Hunk says. “There is no other explanation.”

“Well, do you think I can take the chance and ask her out?” After Pidge’s look, he corrects himself, “at least an autograph?”

“No. Let Shiro handle this. He’s our poster’s boy, remember.”

Sometimes Shiro wonders how he ends up in that role, after being a top star class fighter pilot. Well, the answer is his prosthetic hand and the scar he has on the face and the spirit of his twin brother Ryou that haunted his dreams until Keith arrived in his life.

He stretches his shoulders and climbs down the stairs to return to the building main hall. Allura is there, looking around, unsure how to act. The man is still two steps behind her. One of her eyes fells on Shiro, she presses her lips together.

“Good Morning,” he greets them, with his best smile (or what he thinks it is). “May I help you?”

“I think so,” she says. Her voice is firm. “Is this the Ghostbuster Agency?”

“It is,” Shiro confirms. “I’m Takashi Shirogane, I’m the secretary here. Do you have a problem with ghosts?”

“Maybe.”

Shiro gestures at the old pink sofa on the left part of the room. “Please. May I offer something to you? Coffee?”

“No, thanks.”

She sits down, while the man remains behind her, standing still. Shiro still places the tray with the handmade cookies (Hunk’s courtesy) on the short table before taking place on the other sofa on the opposite side.

She takes a long breath. “I’m Allura Altea and this is Coran, my agent,” she introduces herself.

“Nice to meet you. I was told you’re an actress.”

“I am,” she confirms. “I took a break from my work because of my father’s death.”

“My condolences.”

“Thanks.”

She’s not the first customer that comes to the agency after a beloved’s death. The point is that they’re not sensitives. It’s a common misunderstanding. But here it goes their possibilities to gain some money.

“I’m afraid we can’t help you with it,” Shiro said. “Our job is a little bit different than talking with the dead.”

“That’s not it.” Allura sounds almost offended, even if Shiro doesn’t miss the glint of sadness in her eyes. “My father died two weeks ago. After the funeral, I decided to take his place as a member of the Management Board of his company. He was the major actionist of the Castle of Lions Company, you know, the pharmaceutic company.”

“I know it.” His own prosthetic arm was created by the Castle of Lions.

Allura nods. “I’m not a scientist as my father, but I can manage with business management, and I inherited his quotes. And his office.”

Shiro understands. “And you feel there is a spirit in the office?”

“I’m not exactly sure…” For the first time since the conversation started, she hesitates. “A lot of strange things happen. The temperature can be even ten degrees less than the one in the hallway, from time to time I hear some creaking, and the light turns on and off by itself…”

“It’s definitely the act of a ghost,” Coran speaks for the first time.

“Usually, people explain those kinds of events in a more rational way,” Shiro begins. He isn’t able to continue because Allura stands up suddenly.

“Because there is a rational explanation. Coming here was a mistake. Let’s go, Coran.”

They both turn towards the door and startle: Keith is there, arm crossed.

“How… How do you get in there?” Coran blabbers.

“From the front door…?”

“Ah. Sure.”

“Keith!” Lance’s voice comes from upstairs, and a second later, he appears at the end of the stair, Pidge and Hunk behind him. “I told you a hundred times to teach your wolf not to cross through me! Oh-hi!” he adds as he spots Allura, a wide smile opens on his lips. Pidge elbows him.

Keith rolls his eyes. Kosmo flies from the ceiling, turns around Allura a couple of times before rolling his long and transparent body around Keith’s shoulder. He caresses its head with the point of his right fingers.

“This is not a wolf,” Coran states.

“Duh. No. It’s a Tsukumogami.” Keith gives him the palm of his hand: Kosmo passed thought it and disappeared on the ceiling.

“A what?”

“Pidge,” Keith calls.

She clears her throat. “Objects that are more than a hundred years old can develop a soul. It doesn’t happen often and it depends a lot from the importance of the object in the life of his owner since the object’s soul it’s actually a stolen piece from the owner’s own soul. Tsukumogami becomes visible only if the owner of the object has some spiritual powers, like in Kosmo’s case.”

“People tend to call every kind of supernatural spirit ghost, but it isn’t correct,” Hunk adds. “The supernatural world is a lot more multifaceted than that, and let’s not forget actually ghost doesn’t even exist.”

“I… I see,” Allura murmurs, and she sits down again.

“Can I introduce to you the boss of the agency, Keith Kogane?” Shiro smiles and gestures at him, as Keith takes place next to him. “And the others are Lance, Pidge and Hunk, our ghostbusters.” Lance opens his mouth, but Hunk drags him on his side to stop him.

“So,” Keith begins, “from what I heard, you feel there is a supernatural creature in your office. The first thing we need to confirm is what kind of creature it is. We have different methods to take care of them. And, of course, there is also the possibility it isn’t a supernatural creature at all.”

Allura nods. “How can you confirm it?”

“We have some equipment that can define the spectrum of the spirits.”

“So you have to be in the office, correct?” she asks. At the positive nod from Keith, she adds, “because I don’t want the others know about my suspicious… Their consideration for me is low enough, being an actress and everything, and I surely don’t want to give them any reasons to exclude me from the Management Board.”

“Well, the metrospectral is small,” Pidge comments. “We can easily hid under a jacket. You only have to find an excuse for one of us to enter in the office with you. Maybe a client?”

“I have a better idea!” Lance intervenes. “I can be her fake dating, like his boyfriend coming to see her office! I mean,” he explains at the others’ glares, “a client is dangerous because the others may ask which kind of client, maybe they will ask too much and we don’t have time to make up credible excuses, but they surely wouldn’t care about a boyfriend unless for some mundane questions, right?”

“I actually think it is a good idea.” The disbelief in Keith’s voice is palpable. Lance snorts at him.

“It’s decided, then,” Coran says. “But, if you accept suggestion, I will go better with Mister Shirogane here for a fake boyfriend. Only for esthetic reasons, of course.”

Four pair of eyes are on Shiro, who smiles embarrassed. “I am the poster boy after all.”

“Good.” Allura takes her pursue, extracts a check block and compiles one that lends to Keith. “I expect you to enter in action tomorrow. Can we organize now?”

Shiro tilts his head to see the amount of the check. Slowly, he stands up, takes the folder with the expenses report, and throws it in the trashcan.

***

The limousine arrives on time in front of the Ghostbuster Agency the morning after. Shiro puts on his best suit and Lance helps him to arrange the hair, still he feels a little bit out of place once on board of the luxurious car. Allura greets him with a small smile.

“I’ll try to avoid most people, so we won’t give more explanations that we need,” she says. “But if we meet some high-ups, try to look embarrassed. It’s a company, people aren’t supposed to invite guests. Even less, boyfriends.”

Looking at the car and then himself, Shiro thinks he won’t have much problem in faking embarrassment. A small smile erupts from his lips as he recalls back what Keith told him the evening before: just smile and they all fall at your feet. Shiro wishes it is so simple. Especially because the person he wants, well, he receives Shiro’s smiles all the time.

The building of the Castle of Lions Company is a skyscraper, the tallest building of the entire city. As Allura explains, they only have a head office, so in the first half of the building it is reserved for the laboratories and the researches offices, while the second half to the administrative ones. The personal offices of the two CEOs of the company are on the top floor, only accessible from a private lift on the fiftieth floor. Coran parks the car on the underground parking and, from there, they take the first lift up. They aren’t lucky enough to not meet people from floor to floor, but most of them are scientists, someone who wouldn’t dare to speak with Allura with more than a small greeting. Shiro is aware of the look he’s receiving, especially because he has Allura’s arm under his own, but they reach the fiftieth floor without giving any explanation.

Once there, Allura lends him into a hallway and uses the print of her hand to open a sliding door at the end of it, revealing a small room with a glass lift inside, which let Shiro see the city below them. Before Allura has a chance to call for the lift, a movement behind her catches her attention. Shiro reacts by placing himself between her and the door, before noticing that it’s a child, who’s trying to hide himself under a decorative plant.

Allura sighs. “Lotor. I can see you.”

“No, you can’t,” the reply comes.

She moves next to the plant and she bends down, offering her hand. Lotor takes it. “Are you going up? Can I come with you?” he asks.

“No,” she says, with a sweet smile. “You know you can’t bother your father while he’s working.”

“But I want to help him.” He pouts.

“And you will, staying here and being good.” She shot an apologetic look to Shiro, as she returns in the hallway, Lotor’s hand still in her own.

Shiro follows: she knocks at one door and she enters without waiting for an answer. The room is half an office half a laboratory: it’s messy, with paper and mechanic parts spread everywhere. A woman emerges from below one of the desk – or what Shiro thinks it’s a desk – waving a paper as she just finds a treasure.

Lotor leaves Allura’s hand and runs towards her. “Lotor! Here you are!” She grabs him and she lifts in her arm. “I just find the paper with the calculation I did yesterday.”

“That’s good...” Lotor murmurs.

Only then, the woman notices them. “Oh. Miss Altea. I’m sorry, I know I’m not supposed to bring him to work but…”

Allura shakes her head. “Just be careful. It’s not a safe place for children.” She doesn’t miss the strange look the woman shot to Shiro, so she introduces them, “this is Honerva Daibazaal, one of the top scientists of our company. And this is Takashi, my boyfriend. Takashi Shirogane.” She grabs his arm and smiles. “He accompanied me here and I want to let him have a look.”

Honerva comes close, Lotor still in her arms, and offers her hand to Shiro. “Nice to meet you. I think I recognize the arm,” she adds, as they shake hands. “The Galra Series. One of my best design.”

“Oh. Well, thank you. It is really amazing,” Shiro says, and he means it.

“Not many people can afford it, though,” she adds. “That’s why I’m trying to produce cheaper prosthetics.” There is an implication in her words Shiro doesn’t miss, so he anticipates her next question.

“I was in the military. That’s good for medical expenses.” He laughs, and it isn’t even a lie.

“I see you’re a lot busy, as always, Honerva,” Allura says. “We won’t bother you any longer. Bye, Lotor.”

There is a glint in Honerva’s eyes, as she doesn’t want the conversation to end, but it lasts only a second. She smiles, as Lotor waves at them. “Enjoy your tour, Mister Shirogane.”

They close the door behind them and none of them talks until they reach the lift for the top floor.

Only then, Allura explains, “Honerva is not only the best scientist we have, second only to my father, but also Zarkon’s wife. Lotor is their only son.”

“Zarkon Daibazaal, the other CEO of the company?”

Allura nods. “He’s not a bad man. I know him since I was a little girl. But… he’s pretty aggressive when it comes to business. He doesn’t think I’m the right person for taking my father’s place.” Her face hardens. “But this is my father’s company. I won’t let it to anyone else, not even Zarkon.”

“Well, Keith said I make a good impression to people,” Shiro says. “Maybe if I meet him, he will accept me in the family.”

Allura chuckles. “Unfortunately, he probably thinks I’m shallow and vain bringing my boyfriend here instead of being a workaholic as he is. Sorry,” she adds, “you’re not here for petty business quarrels.”

“It’s okay. Knowing the contest of your father’s life is important to find out what is the problem of his office.”

The lift reaches the top floor. Shiro finds himself in a semicircular hall, with a couple of sofa around and decorated with a tone of purple color. Two doors are there, on the opposite wall, only separated by a couple of meters. There, a painter of two men shaking their hand is hung on there. Shiro recognizes Zarkon and Alfor, even if they look younger.

“It was shot the day the founded the company together. At that time, they used to work in two separate companies,” Allura explains, in a whisper.

She doesn’t want to attire Zarkon’s attention to their presence. She hurries to open the door of her father’s office so they can disappear inside. Alfor’s office is less gloomy than the hall, with light blue and water blue colors. Shiro smiles at the photo with him and Allura placed on the desk.

She leans over the glass desk. “So… what now?”

Shiro opens his jacked and takes off Pidge’s Metrospectral. It looks like a credit card machine, with the bill and everything, and Pidge herself admitted she had that in mind when she built it. The only differences are an antenna on the top of the machinery and the fact that the buttons only serve to select the frequencies.

“The Metrospectral can point out the spiritual traces,” Shiro explains. “Every different kind of spirit has a peculiar trace that is left in the spot of their appearances. With this, we can individuate where they are and who they are.”

“Okay.” Allura nods. She’s tensed.

Shiro turns off the Metrospectral and starts to move it around the room. He starts from the light button, since one of the elements Allura talked about, then he moves to the next wall, to the wardrobe, to the desk. The Metrospectral remains silent.

“Nothing?” Shiro can’t say if there are relief or disappointment in her voice.

“Let me finish the examination first,” he replies. “Some kind of spirit leaves traces in only one spot.”

And this is the case of Allura’s office. Once Shiro moves to the opposite wall, the antenna beeps barely. He gets neat the painter hanging there; it portraits a green flat ground where two lions and three lioness lies down, relaxed. The antenna beeps stronger.

“Is this painting somewhat important?” he asks Allura.

She shakes her head. “My father bought it at a shop years ago. He said it remembered him the name of the company.” Well, there are lions in the painting. “Do you find anything?”

“Good news, you’re not crazy, and you’re not wasting your money on us. There are spiritual traces in this office.”

Shiro presses another couple of buttons. The small screen on the Metrospectral elaborates the data and then it releases a small bill in the paper. Shiro rips it and examines it. Unfortunately, the string of numbers and letters tells him nothing: Pidge didn’t project the machine to be read by not ghostbuster people. Shiro takes a photo and sends it to her.

The answer comes a few minutes later, with Allura and Shiro both waiting for it, expectant.

“Ghost Print.”

Pidge’s message only says that, but for Shiro is enough. He turns off the Metrospectral, he crumbles the small paper and places them both back in his pocket.

“What does it mean?” Allura asks.

“First of all, you have to understand that ghosts, as you see in movies, do not exist,” Shiro says. “Dead people can’t stay in the world of the living, it is not allowed for them to cross between the realm. Only supernatural creatures can do it. The only thing it can remain of the dead is a spiritual print.”

All those things, Keith explained to Shiro. At that time, Shiro believed, like everyone, that ghosts could be real. And Shiro was sure his twin brother Ryou was haunting his room, angry at him for having got him killed in the accident that did cost Shiro his arm and his career in the army.

“Sometimes, if the deceased has a very strong regret of something they were supposed to do before dying, and if their spiritual power is somewhat above the normal standard, it is possible that they left a record of himself here on our world.”

Ryou did that. He regretted not telling Shiro he lied, and that Shiro was supposed to be the pilot on that mission. Ryou wanted it so badly, and he regretted realizing he would have killed Shiro instead. Knowing that didn’t make Shiro feel better about his brother’s death, but he was grateful he didn’t resent him for the accident.

“We need to find out what the spirit that left this print regret and then finds a way to make this regret disappeared,” Shiro ends his explanation.

Allura sighs. “I have no idea what my father could regret…” She looks at the painting as it can give answers.

“We aren’t sure it’s your father yet. It’s likely since this is his office, but the Metrospecrtral can recognize only the spiritual traces and nothing more. For a deeper analysis, we need other types of machinery. And Keith.” He smiles. “Unless you want to tell Zarkon you’re in a poly relationship and you’re organizing a party in your father’s office, we need another excuse to enter here.”

***

“We could have chosen something a little more… fashionable.”

“They’re the uniform for a cleaning company, not a fashion company, Lance.”

“So what? I don’t discriminate. Every worker has the right to have a nice, fancy dress, you know.”

“None of you are actually worried about the fact we’re illegally entering in a high protect pharmaceutic company?” Hunk asks, as he pushes forwards the trolley. “I mean, we won’t have the money to pay a lawyer if we get caught.”

“Well, then let’s not get caught,” Lance replied. “I don’t want anyone seeing me wearing this thing.”

Pidge rolls her eyes. “Don’t worry. Allura gave me enough codes to hack the security system so the camera won’t record us. This is pretty exciting, to be fair honest.”

“I hope a real thief doesn’t decide to give a shot tonight,” Hunk sighs.

“Guys, quiet,” Keith, who was walking in front of them, orders. “Here we are.”

Pidge paces the glover with Allura’s fingerprints on her hand and uses it to open the door, then they hurry to take the lift. Lance turns on the torch as the lift’s door opens on the top floor. The place is dark and silent.

“Allura said the cleaning company does this area at last,” Pidge says. “Which means, by my calculations, that we have an hour before someone gets here.”

“Hunk, stay on guard.” Keith gestures at Hunk, who nods and passes him the trolley. “Let’s get moving.” He placed it next to the office door once they enter. “This should be the painting Shiro talked about.”

“Nice,” Lance comments, as he enlightens it with his torch. “Can you feel something?”

Keith nods. “Definitely. But the print isn’t strong enough for me to see it yet. I will need the amplificatory for it.”

“Help me out, guys,” Pidge calls for them. She starts to take off her equipment from the trolley, where they hid them beforehand.

Lance places the torch on the ground, so the lower area around the painting will be clear enough from them to operate. He grabs from the bucket his magnetic backpack and wears it, testing the rifle in his hand. Meanwhile, Pidge places on the ground her laptop and, as it turns on, connects some dots from the Audiospectral and from Keith’s. He straps two magnetic bands around his wrists, as he stands, back at the painting.

“You must put on the check-up machine, too,” Pidge warns.

“Must I?”

“Yes.”

“Dude.” Lance moves at his next. “Last time you almost had an earth attack and lucky enough for us Shiro was there. He has a first aid knowledge, we haven’t. And, most important, I’m not going to give you a mouth breathing. Not gonna happen.”

At the memory of Shiro giving him that, Keith shuts his mouth and does as he was told. Not only he also does not intend to have Lance kissing him, but it’s also embarrassing enough that Shiro of all people did it. It’s something it should be forbidden to talk even again about. Pidge gives Lance the thumbs up, and Keith rolls his eyes.

“We’re ready,” she announces.

Keith put his visors as she presses the button on the machinery. He takes two deep breathes to calm himself and focusing on the shadow that is appearing in front of him. He feels his pupils becoming thinner as the shadow defines himself.

From the photo they saw, it is definitely the ghost print of Allura’s father. Not really a surprise, but still years of practice taught Keith to be prepared for everything. He stands still, looking directly in front of him. His expression is a little bit worried, with a frown between his two eyebrows.

“I see him,” Pidge whispers. Slowly, she taps on her laptop, trying to take a scan of the images the visor gives her.

“Hi,” Keith says. He doesn’t move.

The ghost print of Alfor remains still. Then, he opens his mouth. “Voltron.”

“Voltron,” Keith repeats. “What it does mean?”

“Voltron,” Alfor says. “Voltron.”

“It is a person? An acronym? Why this is important?” Keith asks again.

“Voltron,” is the only answer.

Pidge checks her audio. “The ghost print is too weak, I can’t register it. Can you do something?”

“I can try. It doesn’t look it’s strong enough to understand questions.”

“So it’s like a broken recorder? Never easy tasks,” Lance comments.

Keith takes two steps forwards: now it is right in front of the ghost print. “Voltron.” With a sigh, Keith places himself in the exact spot of the ghost print. He feels the coldness of the spirit and the word “Voltron” resounds inside him. He clenches his fist to resist the desire of moving back. His heartbeat increases, making difficult to hear.

“What does it mean? What are you doing here? Do you have one last word for Allura?”

At the name of his daughter, Alfor stops repeating the same word. Being inside him make impossible for Keith to see how he’s acting, but he can feel the hesitation. “Tell me.”

Alfor trembles. “Find… Vol…” The sentence is cutting suddenly.

Keith screams, pain radiates from his chest as someone is trying to rip him apart. He stumbles backward, falling on his knees, putting as much space as he can from the ghost spirit. Alfor screeches and Keith heard it all in his brain at a louder volume. His head hurts, so he presses a hand to keep focus and lift his head.

“Man, you’re okay?” Lance and Pidge are at his next, hands on his back and arms.

The visor’s vision is blurred, but he can see a dark figure wrapping himself around Alfor’s. Keith can’t see it well, it looks like a snake but with small tailor and small wings. He knows what is it, but before he can act, the snake tightens his spires and the entire figure of Alfor disappears.

“It’s a _famiglio_,” he coughs. “There’s a _famiglio_.”

“Where?” Lance jumps still, his rifle in his arm, as he loans it. “Tell me where.”

The _famiglio_ moves on the ceiling and Keith is fast to point out the direction. Lance presses the button and blue energy comes off his rifles. “I think I caught it!”

Pidge takes from her pocket a small metallic box, she presses the button to open it and throw it in the air, where Lance is keeping still the _famiglio_ with his rifle. The box generates a small tornado that swallows the _famiglio_ before closing it inside, effectively trapping it.

“What happens?” Hunk enters and lets the door hit the opposite wall. “You’re doing a lot of confusion.”

“You’re doing worse,” Lance points out as he put back his rifle.

Hunk is about to reply, but he sees Keith still on the ground. “My God, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he replies.

Pidge gestures Lance to collect the box, as she returns at her laptop. “Keith’s conditions are stable,” she says, and there is a hint of relief in her word. “A little hyperventilating, but I guess it’s normal.”

“My head is killing me,” Keith admits. He can still feel the pain on his chest and the heartbeat in his ears.

“Rest, for now,” Pidge advices. “We don’t have much time left, so there is something left to do?”

“No. The ghost print is gone.”

“Okay.”

Hunk returns to look at the main hall and at the lift, while Lance and Pidge hid back in the trolley all their equipment. Keith remains in the ground, breathing hard. Once they’re finished, he can stand up alone even if he still has a headache. Still, Lance and Pidge help him to walk. They take the two lifts they need to reach the underground parking, and their van.

“I'll drive,” Lance offers, and Keith can’t prevent him. His head hurts too much to even complain about his driving skill.

He regrets Shiro isn’t there with them, so he can lean against his shoulder and let Shiro taking care of him and caressing him with his pretty hands. He put the neck backward hoping it’ll help for the pain. The others are kind enough to not speaking, not even for asking about his condition.

“Who the hell sent a _famiglio_ here?” he comments, once the van left the parking.


	2. Part 2

They are all there at the Ghostbusters Agency. Keith lies down on the couch, Shiro at his side helping him to keep the ice firm on his still hurting head. Allura and Coran sit on the couch in front of them, Lance and Hunk in two chairs at the side, and Pidge is kneeled, the laptop in front of her.

She played the record of Alfor’s voice, something that puts Allura on the edge. The voice isn’t the same, being filtered by both Pidge’s machinery and the fact Alfor was just a ghost print, but it’s recognizable in any case.

Coran passes his arm behind her back. “So you’re saying that he was exorcised? Like in the movie? I liked it.”

Pidge rolls her eyes. “That kind of movie is horrible.”

“Don’t say that,” Lance replies.

“Come on. Have you seen them? They don’t take a thing right!”

“I’m not saying they’re accurate. I’m only saying they aren’t such a big problem,” Lance says. “Some of them are actually quite enjoyable.”

“Back to the point,” Hunk intervenes before Pidge can start a thirty pages of dissertation about how narratively bad they really are. “I’m sorry to communicate that the ghost print of your father is gone.”

“It’s not a big deal,” Keith adds. “It was so weak it hardly manages to communicate with us.” This gains him a disapproving look from Shiro, to which Keith answers with a frown. People keep saying he’s too blunt, but sometimes there isn’t a good way to tell the truth.

“But how he was exorcised?” Coran asks. “Like, a priest with holy water and everything appears out of nowhere? Like this?” And he shows a very good imitation of the priest from the movie.

Keith groans and feels his headache is just getting worse. “Okay, I admit it, you’re right about the movies being a problem,” Lance comments, a little baffled.

Pidge releases a satisfied smirk. “No, that’s not how it works.”

“Please, explain.” Allura regains her composure. “I believe you were exorcists, in a way.”

“Not really.” Pidge looks around to receive the approval to continue. “When it comes to ghost print, there are two ways to deal with them. Ours is to understand the reason for its existence and create a situation for the ghost print to terminate naturally its life.”

“We think it’s better in this way,” Hunk adds. “If a person has such a strong desire at the point it creates a ghost print, the least we can do is try to fulfill it.”

“For example, it happened once that a girl died before reaching the place of the date with his boyfriend,” Lance says. “She wanted to confess that day, so her ghost print remained in that place until his boyfriend came and said to her I love you. It was very romantic!”

“The other way,” Pidge continues, “is by brute force. This is what exorcists do, and what happened to your father’s ghost print.”

“So exorcists are bad guys?” Coran asks.

The eyes of the other turn on Keith. “No,” he sighs. “Exorcists are people with the abilities to separate a piece of their soul and turn it into a supernatural creature called _famiglio_. A _famiglio_ can interact with other supernatural creatures, fighting with them and so on.”

“Ghost prints are easy to fix,” Hunk comments, “but other supernatural creatures aren’t, and they need more… definitive methods.”

“We do what exorcist do, but with technologies,” Lance anticipates the other question. “Well, almost everything they do. For the rest, we have Keith.”

“So… Keith’s an exorcist?”

“No. I haven’t been able to create a _famiglio_. But I came from an exorcists’ family, so I have higher sensitivity than normal people.”

Allura’s eyes move to Keith, still with the ice bag on his head. “I’m sorry about what happened.”

“It’s fine. I’ve had worse.” Keith shrugs. “And it’s not your fault. We couldn’t foresee the exorcist’s action.”

“I think I get it,” Allura says. “So, what now?”

“Well, technically our work here is done.” There is a slight disappointment in Shiro’s voice, and Keith can’t blame him. They haven’t had a client for days and things end too fast. “Normally, we would try to discover who or what this Voltron is, and then bring it back to the ghost print. But now the ghost print is gone, so…”

“I still want to find out about Voltron,” Allura affirms. “Whatever it is, it’s important enough for my father to leave a ghost print. And for someone to hire an exorcist to get rid of my father’s last message. I will reach the end of this story.” She looks at each one of them. “Can you help me?”

“Well, we aren’t detective tout court,” Hunk murmurs, “but it is what we do. Just we don’t have a ghost print anymore.”

Keith nods. “We captured the _famiglio_. We can start from it to find out more about who its owner is.”

Pidge nods. “I already run a search through the database, comparing the vibration from the _famiglio_ to our data. If they are register exorcists, we can find them and see who hired them.”

“What about Voltron?” Shiro asks. “Do you have any clue about it?”

Both Allura and Coran shake their heads. “No. I’ve never heard that word before,” she says.

“Your father’s ghost print stood before the painting. That place has to be important,” Keith says. “Connected to Voltron somehow.” He closes his eyes and recalls the events of the night before. “He said… find Voltron.”

“So we can assume it is something he was searching for?” Hunk comments.

“Behind the painting, there is my father’s safe, with documents of the company,” Allura remembers. “I only have the time to give them a briefly look, but maybe there are some clues about Voltron there.”

“It’s likely,” Pidge nods. “The ghost print is too weak to even spoke, let aside open a safe. His only way to indicate it was to stay in front of it.”

“It’s decided, then.” Allura stands up. “I will look through my father’s files, while you will investigate about the exorcist.”

***

“Are you sure you’re fine?” Shiro asks.

“Yeah, don’t worry. My headache is better now,” Keith answers. “And I’m just going to Kolivan’s place. The worse that can happen to me is a lecture.”

Shiro nods. He would like to accompany him, but someone has to stay in the agency and right now Pidge and Hunk are outside looking for exorcist since their analysis gave no useful results. And Lance is doing the second shower of the day.

As Keith leaves, Shiro sits down and the desk and starts fix their agenda. He needs to do something – anything. He’s grateful he got a job instead of spending his time at the park with a dog as many veterans do, but he wants to do more. He wants to feel useful. Being more on the field instead that blocked behind a desk.

He’s a soldier, after all.

And the office work is getting boring.

He hears Lance getting off from the shower and takes his decision. “Lance! I’m going out. Answer the phone if someone calls!”

“Hey, wait! Where are you going?” Lance, with his bathrobe on, emerges from the upper floor, in time to see Shiro taking his coat. “And what am I supposed to do?”

“You’ll be fine. Just use your charm.”

Shiro is outside the building in a second. He stops to buy flowers and then heads directly to the Castle of Lions Company. One of the secretary at the main entrance recognizes him from the previous visit and reserves him a nice smile.

“You’re here to see Miss Altea?”

He nods. “It’s a surprise.”

“Unfortunately, no one can access to upper floor without authorization,” the secretary replies. “I’m sorry. Security reasons.”

“Of course.” Shiro sighs. “Can you tell Allura I’m here?”

The secretary nods and composes the number on his phone. “Miss Altea? There is a visitor for you. Your boyfriend.” We she takes off the call, she turns to Shiro. “She’s coming.”

Allura doesn’t let their act falls and she greets him with a big hug as she reaches the bottom floor. Only when they are in the lift, without the looks of the others, she frowns. “Has something happened?”

“No. We didn’t find any match between the _famiglio_ and the exorcists in our database, so Pidge and the others are doing some researches on the field,” Shiro explains. “I just pass by to see how you’re doing and if you have some news.”

“Unfortunately, I haven’t.”

Alfor’s office is a mess. Papers are everywhere and some of them fall on the ground as the door opens. The painting with the lions is on the ground, and the safe is opened and empty. Allura places the flowers on the window and sit down with a sigh.

“I searched troughs all the files that were in the safe. There is no reference to a Voltron whatsoever. I thought it could be an acronym, but for now, I had no luck finding something that could have some resemblance.”

Shiro sits down in front of her and picks up a paper. It contains all the tentative she made to find a sequence of words that makes sense. “Voltron seems a little bit long to be an acronym.”

“Maybe is something like Vol and Tron? I don’t know.” Another sigh. “I’m running research in the company’s database too and I asked Coran to check in our house, maybe there is something there.”

“Giving that your father’s ghost print is here in the office, I think whatever Voltron is, the clue to find it is here.”

Allura nods. “But… Maybe he didn’t mean Voltron. Maybe he means something else entirely and he just didn’t have the time or the possibilities to tell us. You said the ghost print was weak.”

“That’s true, but the word Voltron is pretty clear,” Shiro says. “It is possible ghost prints don’t manage to tell an entire sentence to explain the situation, but they don’t get words wrong. Unless they don’t know it’s wrong.”

“A surname?” Allura reflects. “My father could have nominate something Voltron unofficially. In that case it can be anything and we don’t have a clue anymore about it.”

“Don’t let it beat yourself. We still have the exorcist investigation going on. The person that hired the exorcist might know about Voltron.”

“I hope so.”

The door of the office opens up with strength. In the gigantic figure that appears, Shiro recognizes Zarkon Daibazaal. He doesn’t look happy. He storms to Allura’s desk and smashes his hands on it.

“What the hell are you doing?” he yells.

She startles, surprised, but she doesn’t retreat. “What do you mean-”

“You’re looking for Voltron. You’re not even supposed to know about it. What game are you playing?”

Oh, well. This is not the way Shiro imagined to discover something about Voltron, but he isn’t going to complain.

“And what do you know about Voltron?” Allura replies.

“Stop researching about it immediately!”

“No. This is my company and I have every right to make research in the company database.”

“This is not your company!”

At that point, Shiro reacts. Zarkon has get too near to the point of physically attack Allura and Shiro isn’t going to let it happen, not on his watch. He grabs Zarkon’s arm and as soon as he acts as he wants to hit him back, Shiro turns the arm behind his back and presses him down on the desk, making papers flying around.

“Allura is the owner of a part of this company,” Shiro affirms. “Now, if you start to speak like a decent human being, maybe we can talk.”

Zarkon grumbles. “I will denounce you for assault.”

“Not if I do it first. And I was in the military, just for your interest.”

Since Zarkon doesn’t reply back, Allura gestures at Shiro, that releases him. “My father mentioned me about Voltron. What is it? Why it is so important and why does it make you so angry?” she demands.

“I’m not surprised it’s the only thing your father left.” Zarkon fixes his jacket. “I don’t know what Voltron is. Not in details, at least. It’s a medicine, one Alfor wanted to use to get rid of my quotes of the company.”

Allura’s eyes widen. “That’s not possible.”

“It is.” Zarkon snorts. “Years of test and analysis… everything about Voltron disappears from the database. It’s the longest project your father worked to, and in the end he hid it completely. What do you think about the reasons? He wanted to sell it at the best buyer out there and leave this company.”

“My father wouldn’t leave this company. Ever. He built it.”

“Maybe he was tired to share it with me,” Zarkon replies. “You won’t find anything about Voltron in our database, but I swear to God, I won’t let you ruin this company for me.” With this, he leaves.

Shiro waits until he disappears in his office, before closing the door and turning to Allura. “Are you okay?”

She nods slowly. “I… know Zarkon has a temper. It’s just… I can’t believe my father did that.”

“He could be lying.”

“Yes. Of course.” Allura sighs. “My father loved this company. He built it. His relationship with Zarkon wasn’t as good as before, but I can’t believe he planned to sell a medicine behind his own company’s back.”

“Well, at least we know now what Voltron is,” Shiro says. “We can check in your father’s note if there is some contact with other companies… just to be sure,” he adds, not wanting to upset Allura more than she already is.

“Sure.” She takes the papers on her desk, folds them all together and places them again on the safe. “I need fresh air.” She closes the safe and takes her purse.

“I come with you,” Shiro says, and it isn’t a question.

They leaves the building under the looks of everyone, hand in hand. “Let’s go enough far,” Allura proposes. The area around the Castle of Lions is too crowded by employers and other people she doesn’t want to be heard from. Shiro suggests a stop to his favorite ice-cream shop. They take a bus to reach it and then sit down in a bench at the park, ice cream in hand.

Allura looks better. She licks the cream from her fingers and smiles happy. “Earlier, in the office… that was great.”

He realizes she means his stunt with Zarkon. “Oh, well, old habits, I guess. They won’t work on spirits unfortunately.”

“You explained exorcists and sensitives are born like that.”

“They are. It’s a talent like another.”

“How did you end working in a ghostbusters agency?”

“Destiny, I guess.” He reflects if tell a little more about the circumstance of his meeting with Keith, but his cellphone rings in that exact moment and, destiny it is, because it is Keith. “Hi,” he greets him.

“Where are you?” Keith asks.

“With Allura. I went checking if she needs help.”

“You left Lance alone in the agency,” Keith points out.

“Keith. Come on, do you really think he can’t handle himself? In one afternoon?” Shiro laughs. He knows very well Keith’s act with Lance isn’t true at all and he really respects Lance’s expertise.

“Well, it’s on you,” Keith replies, annoyed. “Are you okay?”

“Fine. Did you find out something interesting?”

“No, unfortunately. Kolivan never sees a _famiglio_ like the one we caught. The exorcist may be new in town, or a private one. It happens sometimes.” The disappointment is palpable in Keith’s voice and Shiro realizes he still felt guilty about the destruction of Alfor’s ghost print.

“Well, at least we have news.” Shiro put his cellphone in loudspeaker so both him and Allura can tell the story. Keith listens to everything in silent, without making any questions.

“Coran is searching my house,” Allura finishes. “He hasn’t call me yet, but it is possible that my father had something about Voltron there, if he really was hiding it for the rest of the company.”

“And I also suggest to look for other pharmaceutic company that Alfor could have contacted before dying,” Shiro adds.

A long minute of silent passes. “It doesn’t make sense,” Keith says at last.

“I agree. My father wouldn’t-” Allura starts, but Keith stops her.

“No. I’m talking about the ghost print. Your father’s was in his office, so Voltron has to be connected with it somehow. If documents about Voltron are in your house, the ghost print should have been there too.”

“But Allura looked in the safe, there is nothing there,” Shiro points out.

“When I managed to connect a little more with Alfor’s ghost print, he said ‘find Voltron’. Not just Voltron,” Keith remembers them. “Right now, I’m convinced someone stole it. Maybe the safe was the last place Alfor put him before it was stolen.”

“Oh.” Allura has a little frown on her face. “That would explain everything. My father doesn’t want to turn his back at the company, but maybe someone else did. And this someone stole my father’s project and erased every document about it to make Voltron his own. And Zarkon is wrong thinking it was my father’s doing.”

“It’s likely. And the same person could be behind our mysterious _famiglio_.”

“Do you know where your father was going when he died?” Shiro asks. “If he let a ghost print about Voltron, maybe he was investigating about the thieving. If he had some suspicious, it could help us find the culprit.”

“Allura, did your father have a laptop?” Keith adds. “Pidge may be able to recover the data from it if someone tries to cancel it. She’s pretty good as a hacker.”

“Yes, he had one. And it’s mine now. It’s in the office. Let’s go to take it now.”

She threw the rest of her ice cream in the trashcan as she stands up. Shiro smiles. “Can you survive a little more alone in the agency with Lance?”

“I’ll manage,” Keith jokes. “See you later.”

Shiro closes the call and put the cellphone in the pocket as he follows Allura. Once they are sitting down on the bus to go back to the Castle of Lions, she comments, “he’s a little overprotecting with you, isn’t he? Keith, I mean.”

“A little,” Shiro admits. “But for reasons. A couple of times dealing with spirits triggered my PTSD and we’re trying to avoid it as much as possible.” It’s the second reason for him being the secretary at the agency.

“Oh. I’m sorry, I didn’t know that.”

Shiro shrugs. “Let’s focus on your investigation for now.”

He takes her hand again once they enter the building, but this time one of the secretaries run towards them with a worried look on her face. “Finally you are here, Miss Altea. I tried to contact you, but you felt the cellphone in your office.”

“I apologize,” she says. She’s tense. “What happened?”

And Shiro holds his breath as the secretary says, “Mister Daibazaal has been killed!”

***

It’s not like they don’t deal with murder before. Some of the ghost prints they helped in the past were killed. Still, it’s the first time one of them almost got charge because of it, and the first time they get involved in a murder after their investigation about a spirit.

The fact that Shiro of all people was the one in the middle doesn’t help. So Keith is looking around with an annoyed frown on his face.

“I should arrest all of you,” Iverson says, as his only eye passes on every one of them.

“No, you shouldn’t,” Pidge replies, as a matter of fact. “It’s not like it’s illegal to fake a relationship.”

“Yeah, it’s not,” Hunk adds, but his tone suggests he’s trying to convince himself. “And if Miss Altea is okay with it, Shiro can go in her office with her authorization.”

He shot a look at Keith, that nods. Shiro accompanying Allura wasn’t illegal. Disguised themselves like cleaners and entering in the Caste of Lions at night might be. Better Iverson never finds out about it.

“Unfortunately no, I can’t,” Iverson admits. “I can’t avoid Miss Altea or anyone else to believe in ghosts and whatever, or even waste their money like that.”

Both Pidge and Keith roll their eyes in annoyance. Shiro eyes at them to stay put, and he has to place his hand on Lance’s neck to stop him from complaining.

“But this is a murder. Real stuff. If I see any of you around my crime scene, or my suspects, or my witnesses, I’ll arrest you for obstruction of the justice,” he warns. “Go doing your witchcraft somewhere else.”

“It’s not witchcraft-” Pidge starts, but Keith interrupts her.

“Fine, detective. But Shiro’s free of charge, correct?”

Iverson nods, and he doesn’t look too much happy about it. “Luckily for him, Mister Shirogane and Miss Altea left the building when Mister Daibazaal was still alive, so they have an alibi.” He throws one last shot at them. “I’m watching you.” And then leaves the agency.

“That was…. Uhm…” Lance comments. “Damn, Shiro, couldn’t you lie about your relationship with Allura?”

“Of course I could,” Shiro replies calmly. “Right now I’d probably be in prison for a fake testimony because there is no way I and Allura could come up with two similar stories about our relationship but, hey, maybe I would like the new experience.”

“I guess we can be happy we didn’t choose Lance as the fake boyfriend,” Hunk comments, as Lance crosses his arms and grumbles.

Keith finally sits down next to Shiro. “Are you okay?”

“Fine. Iverson is right, I was lucky. I kinda attacked Zarkon like ten minutes before someone killed him, so…”

“You were helping Allura.”

“I know. Still, I’m glad that the killer was considerate enough to wait for me to leave before murdering Zarkon.”

“We aren’t going to stop, right?” Pidge chirps in. “Zarkon was killed right before he talked about Voltron. It can’t be a coincidence.”

“Definitely not,” Keith agrees. “And I’m thinking Alfor’s death couldn’t have been accidentally too.”

Hunk gasps. “We really find ourselves in a very bad conspiracy then.”

“Yeah, well…” Shiro shrugs. “It’s likely. Someone stole Voltron. Then, to cover their traces, they killed Alfor and erase every data about Voltron. Zarkon believed it was Alfor’s doing, but he was probably wrong.”

“But why they killed Zarkon then?” Hunks asks. “Allura is the one looking for Voltron.”

“You’re right!” Lance exclaims. “Allura might be in danger! She could be the next on the killer’s list! Someone has to go there to protect her, and by someone I mean me.”

“You’re in danger too,” Keith points out. “We all are. If the killer wants every person with a small knowledge of Voltron’s existence dead, we are on that list too.”

“My God…” Hunk exhales.

“Allura is fine for now,” Shiro states. “She’s at her house, and Coran and the rest of her team are with them. I doubt the killer will try something. For now.”

“So, what now?” Pidge asks. “We obey Iverson and stay put?”

“Of course not,” Keith replies. “I can trust detectives when it comes to living, but we have a killer with knowledge of the spiritual world here. It’s our area of expertise. I’m just disappointed we couldn’t put our hand on Alfor’s laptop anymore.”

“Can’t you control it from remote?” Lance asks to Pidge.

“I can try, but if the police technicians are working on it, they can be able to detect me.”

“Yeah, we already have a heartless killer on our tail. Let Iverson go for now,” Hunk comments.

“I was thinking…” Shiro begins. “Ghost prints appear in the place where the regret of the person manifest, and not where the person dies, correct?”

“Yes. Alfor himself dies in a totally different place,” Keith answers.

“But, for the ghost print to manifest, the last action of the dead has to be tied up with the regret.”

“Ah, I see!” Pidge exclaims. She opens her laptop and starts looking at it.

“Explanation, please?” Lance demands.

“Alfor was going somewhere the day of his car accident,” Pidge says. “Somewhere related to Voltron.”

“Oh, that’s right!” Hunk gets it. “His ghost print told us to find Voltron. Maybe he was going to take it himself that day.”

“Yep. From the newspaper, we know the place of the accident, so I’m running a research to check out if in the area there is something that gives us a lead to Voltron.”

They wait, all their eyes fix in Pidge’s screen until his searching program gives back 0 results. “This is strange…” she comments, as she restarts it with new parameters. “I tried it for pharmaceutic company or old place related to Alfor… It has to be something there.”

“Maybe he hid Voltron in a bank? Or something?” Hunk guesses.

“Try also places related to the Castle of Lions in general,” Shiro proposes.

“Okay, let’s see…” A couple of minutes later, the program signs a result. “How strange. The street Alfor took before dying brings to Sincline College.”

“And is it interesting because…?” Lance says.

“Lotor Daibazaal attends that school. You know, the son of Zarkon.”

“Do you think Alfor was looking for Lotor?” Shiro comments. “It’s just a child. I’m not sure he knows something.”

“Maybe not,” Keith agrees, “but you told us he’s often at the Castle of Lions. Maybe, without knowing, he took something related to Voltron and Alfor was about to ask him where he hid it.”

“It is possible,” Shiro nods.

“Okay, how we proceed from here?” Hunk asks. “I highly doubt we can go and interrogate this Lotor child.”

“Especially because he lost his father today,” Pidge adds.

“We can’t, but maybe Allura can,” Keith replies. “She will see him at the funeral. In the meantime, let’s continue our researches on the exorcist and try to find out if Alfor managed to speak with Lotor the day of his death. If he did, his ghost print could have another clue for us.”

“I will speak with Allura,” Shiro offers. “Lance can come with me to her house. It’s better if none of us remain alone, giving the situation. Just to be careful.”

“I agree, but I have the feeling you’ll be Lance’s bodyguard and not the other way around,” Keith jokes.

“I’m fine with that,” Lance replies.

“We will stay here at the agency, keeping our analysis on the _famiglio_ and try to not get on Iverson’s nerve as we investigate Lotor’s school,” Pidge says.

“Sounds like a plan.”


	3. Part 3

A month passes. Zarkon’s funeral has been held, the investigation has been carried out, and everything goes back to normal. Sort of. The killer is still free and Voltron is still a mystery. Shiro is sure Allura has no intention to stop her searching, but the entire assassination thing was a lot to accept. Besides, his father’s company needs her a lot more, now that the other CEO is dead too.

She told them to keep the paycheck – she can use their service later on – but to stop their researches for now. None of the ghostbusters were happy about it, but they obeyed. Work returns to normal, with a couple of very simple cases of ghost prints.

None of them forget, though. They get sloppy, more relaxed, but at the back of their mind Allura’s case, a case they aren’t able to resolve, is still there. Shiro swears Pidge still checks the _famiglio_ from time to time, Keith keeps himself informed about new exorcists in town, Lance sends message to Allura a couple of time a week and Hunk has managed to gain as much information as he can about Lotor’s whereabouts, even if most of them are useless.

Shiro himself uses his charm to go and chat at the police department, hoping to find some clue about Zarkon’s investigation. But even Iverson seems to have no idea how the murder occurred.

“It’s like a ghost,” he said Shiro once, and he immediately regretted it. “Pity they don’t exist,” he hurried to add.

Shiro didn’t contradict him, but it made him wondered if something spiritual could have killed Zarkon. Keith is skeptical. It’s hard for spirit to interact in the human world and even when they’re strong enough to do so, killing a person is still out of their league. For once, they’re out their field of expertise.

But Shiro doesn’t stop to think about the case and this is one of the main reasons his attention is immediately caught by one painting similar to the one in Alfor’s office.

Shiro is at a flea market. It’s Sunday, and the agency is closed, so Shiro spends his free time wandering there and hoping to find a spirit like Kosmo. Kosmo is pretty useful to show people spirits exist and also it’s pretty cute. Not only Shiro, but also the others would like a friendly spirit like it for a pet. Until now, not luck, but Shiro forgets it easily as his eyes fell on the painting.

He moves closes to observe it. He isn’t surprised he remembers every detail of Alfor’s one since it’s the one covering the safe Alfor’s ghost print was pointing out. The painting in front of him is the exact copy of Alfor’s, saving for the draw of the small castle on the hill.

“Nice, eh?” the seller approaches Shiro. “It’s a special offer for today.”

“Oh, well, I’m not really interesting… I’m just surprised because a friend of mine has the same painting.”

The seller doesn’t flinch. “It’s normal. There are five of this kind of painting around, made from the same artist around the time of the Cold War.”

“An artist made five identical paint?” Shiro repeats perplex. “They’re like copy or…”

“No, they’re just more than paintings.” The seller moves behind the canvas. “The name of this artist was Sven and he worked with Russian spies. The paintings were a cover to move around secrets without people noticing. Look.”

Shiro hears a small click and suddenly, in the painting, the draw of the small castle appears. “Oh. It’s… a secret spot?”

“Exactly. It’s small, but enough to contain a small spool,” the seller explains. “Once the castle is out, people are aware the secret is inside the painting, so they can take it and move it around.”

“I see… This is… very interesting. I gotta go.”

“Hey. Aren’t you going to buy it?” the seller yells after him, as Shiro starts to walk away.

“Maybe later,” Shiro answers without stopping or looking back. As he almost runs out of the market, he took off from the pocket his cellphone, looking for Allura’s number. A preregister message informs Shiro Allura isn’t available at the moment. Shiro leaves a message.

“Allura, call me back as soon as possible. I think I know where Voltron is.”

The next number is Keith. Before he has a chance to dial it, his metal hand clutches against the cellphone, strong enough to crush it completely. Baffled, Shiro stops his run and looks at the accident he just caused. He knows his prosthetic arm is stronger than the human one, but he’s used to it and he never put more strength than necessary on it.

He can’t remain shocked for long. A piercing pain hit his head. All his nerves burn from his right shoulder to his temples. Shiro fells on his knees and scream, unable to remain aware of the surrounding. He registers whispering around him, even some hands on it, but the pain is unbearable and he can’t do anything else but shivering in every fiber of his body.

At a certain point, he lose consciousness.

When he regains it, the pain is gone, but not the feeling of having it. He resists the urge to gag and tries to recollect himself, placing the hands on the ground to recollect his balance. The artificial light is too bright and Shiro squints his eyes to adapt to it. With a deep breath, he looks around. At first, he doesn’t recognize the room, with all the tables and the papers on them.

Until his eyes fell on a figure sitting in a chair, a laptop on her lap. Shiro jumps still. “Doctor Daibazaal?”

She doesn’t acknowledge him, still looking at the screen. “That arm of yours… it’s one of my masterpieces,” she says, as she isn’t speaking with him. “It connects directly with your nerves, so your brain can control it as it does with every other limb of your body. It is in every way equal to a human arm.”

She presses a button on her laptop and Shiro groans, as another rush of pain hit his head.

“Unlike a human arm, it can be hacked. I always put a backdoor into my creations. They’re mine.”

Shiro looks at his arm and, like the time he woke up after the surgery, he doesn’t recognize it as his anymore. “It was you?” he asks. “You killed your own husband?”

“I’m not here to talk,” she replies. “I’m not an evil boss from a James Bond movie.”

“Then what do you want?” Shiro snarls.

“Tell me where Voltron is.”

“I don’t know.”

“Lying is useless. I heard the message you left to Allura.” At Shiro’s frown, Honerva smiles. “Allura Altea is smart. People see her as an actress and believe she’s shallow and vain. She plays with it so people underestimate her. I don’t. I hacked your cellphone from day one.”

“You hacked my phone?” Shiro has been a soldier long enough to realize what a hacked phone can do.

“Yes. Allura isn’t the kind of woman to bring his boyfriend at work, despite what everyone thinks. And I was right, wasn’t I?”

“I’m not telling you anything,” Shiro states. His mind is running wild, thinking of all the information he could have transmitted just keeping his cellphone with him. “The ghost print! That’s how you know about it!”

She doesn’t answer. “I can charge your arm until it burns all your nerves and turns you into an empty body for the rest of your life.”

“But you won’t,” Shiro replies. “I’m the only one to know where Voltron is, so I’m useless without my consciousness.”

“This is true.” She takes her eyes off him, but her expression remains stoic. She returns tapping in her laptop, ignoring Shiro.

He looks around, trying to find something to defend himself, or escape, or leave one last message. But there is a lingering feeling of fear at his prosthetic arm: it feels heavy than usual and Shiro keeps it still, unable to move it.

“I can’t kill you, but I can kill someone else.” Finally, Honerva lifts her head again, not to watch Shiro, but the door of the office. It opens a second later and Keith’s figure appears. His lips are parted, breathing hard, and there is a lingering fear in his blue eyes. He frowns as he sees Honerva.

Shiro understands immediately.

“Keith. RUN!”

It’s too late. Keith manages to turn his head on Shiro before Shiro’s arm moves by itself, dragging Shiro with it. The metallic hand clutches around Keith’s neck. The strength of the blow makes Shiro’s body crash into Keith’s and both of them fell on the ground. Shiro’s fingers tighten around Keith’s neck. He lifts his hands to free himself, as Shiro presses the human arm on the ground as leverage to stand up and take the prosthetic arm with him, but the grip on Keith’s neck is too strong and Shiro has no control of it anymore.

Keith struggles under the grip, teeth gritted, as he loses his breath. “Make it stop! Make it stop!” Shiro screams.

“Tell me where Voltron is,” Honerva said calmly.

“I’ll tell you. Just make it stop!”

She presses a button and Shiro feels the fingers move and the grip disappearing, even if the palm remains pressed on Keith’s neck. Keith stops struggling and put his hand on Shiro’s human arm, a reassuring gesture Shiro isn’t sure he deserves.

“Where is Voltron?” Honerva asks again. Her index finger rubs the button.

Keith barely shakes his head, but Shiro swallows. “In the painting in Alfor’s office. The one with the lion. There is a mechanism inside the canvas.”

“I see.”

She returns to the screen, as they aren’t even in the room, and Shiro regains the control of his body. He moves aside from Keith and helps him to recover. He keeps him still and hides his metal arm under his back. Keith pants hard and brushes his reddened neck.

“Are you okay?” Shiro asks, in a whisper.

“Yeah, I don’t think it’s damaged.”

“Why are you here?”

“She calls for me.”

“You shouldn’t have come.”

“She had you,” Keith points out, in a tone that avoids any replies. “How do we manage to free your arm?”

“I don’t know.” Shiro shakes his head. “Maybe, if Pidge was here, she could have found a way to shield it from hacking…”

Honerva finishes her work: she presses a couple of buttons and the prosthetic arm moves again, this time to grip Shiro’s own neck. Humans can’t choke themselves to death, because they would lose consciousness before and their hand would stop, but the same can’t be said for a metal arm controlled by an evil scientist.

“Let him go,” Keith orders and he stumbles still.

Honerva stands up and places the laptop on the desk next to her. She moves the chair a little bit in front of her. “Sit down here.”

Keith’s gaze passes from it to Shiro, and he nods. Slowly, he walks towards it. She smirks as she takes back her laptop and put it far from him. Keith grits his teeth but obeys and sits down where she orders. Shiro swallows as he feels the finger digs in his skin.

“Don’t! I did what you told!” Keith yells and he doesn’t dare to stand up.

“Just a guarantee you don’t move.” Honerva opens a closet. “Let me finish it so I can stop my creation in time.”

“Be fast,” Keith snarls, sarcasm in his word.

She still complies. Shiro pants to take every inch of air, as he watches Honerva tying Keith to the chair with duct tape. She doesn’t save on it. Once she is satisfied with it, she threw the roll on the floor and leaps to her laptop. Shiro takes a long breath as the grip in his neck tightened, but his prosthetic arm remains on it, and a sharp pain hit his brain.

Honerva doesn’t reserve a look at Keith, who started struggling with his restraints, neither at Shiro, but she orders, “Come with me.”

Shiro’s eyes linger a second on Keith, who tries to tell him something under the tape on his mouth, before following Honerva out of the room. As long as Keith is far away from him and his controlled arm, Shiro is happier. Keith can free himself, and maybe warns the other. For now, Shiro would prefer to keep his metallic arm as far as possible from him.

First, they reach Alfor’s office: Honerva has access to the upper floor and she also owns a key of the office, even if Shiro can’t say if it’s legal or not. Still with the laptop in her hand, she throws the canvas on the ground and she rips it apart with scissors. The secret spot is there as Shiro guessed and she finds a USB pen inside.

“This is Voltron?” Shiro asks.

From the satisfied look on her face, he guesses it is. He wonders what Voltron really is for a person to kill, and to kill her own husband too. She doesn’t answer, nor she asks Shiro to follow her again, but he still does. They move to one of the lower floors, where the laboratories are. She chooses one and places herself at the lab table. She connects the USB pen to the laptop and starts working with her bulb.

Shiro, the hand still at his throat, looks around. His mind works fast to find a solution to this situation: Honerva proved already to be a cold blood murder and Shiro doesn’t doubt he and Keith would be her next victims. The only reason for them to still be alive is because she wants something from them. Shiro already gave her Voltron, he isn’t going to wait for the next request.

She looks enough distracted by her work. He individuates a small chirurgical knife in one of the other tables. He shifts in that direction, being careful to not make a sound. He grabs it and returns to his previous spot next to the door. Whatever she’s doing, she finishes it. She places the purple liquid into three syringes: two put on her pocket, as she takes in her hand only the third.

As she approaches him, syringe in one hand and laptop in the other, Shiro’s grip on the chirurgical knife tightened. He isn’t going to let her use that on him. He isn’t going to be a guinea pig.

She smirks. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to waste it on you.”

Shiro remains wary; the pain that from time to time hit his brain is still here and first, he has to remove it. He grits his teeth and leaps forward: he hit her with his left shoulder. Honerva isn’t fast enough to dodge, so she let her laptop fall, but she manages to kick it out of Shiro’s way. Another sting of pain hit Shiro’s brain, slowly him enough for Honerva to recall her laptop. She presses a couple of buttons and the grip around Shiro’s throat tightens again.

She recollects her laptop and reserves only a brief look at Shiro before leaving with fast steps. Shiro takes the knife out of the pocket where he hid it. The pain and the lack of oxygen blurred his vision, but he’s able to stab himself in the shoulder. The sharp pain doesn’t block him to realize the prosthetic arm shakes a little, so he keeps stabbing himself until he cut out all the nerves of the arm. At that point, hacking or not, the arm isn’t able anymore to connect to the brain. The arm falls immobile at his side.

Shiro doesn’t concede himself a second to recover. If Honerva kept a syringe in her hand, it means she wants to use it now. Shiro fears Keith can be his designated victim. He drags himself near the lift, realizing it is going upstairs. He calls for the other, which arrives when the other stops on the fifty floor. Once there, Shiro realizes with relief Honerva doesn’t target Keith, but she intends to return on the upper floor.

Shiro struggles only a second before moving towards the hallway. He has to stop Honerva. Once she’s defeated, Keith and everyone else will be safe. He reaches the private hall just before the door closes, so he manages to enter, but Honerva already took the lift. When Shiro is able to reach it, Honerva is in front of the painting, back at him.

She turns as she heard the lift door opens. She looks shocked to see him again, and her gaze passes on his bloody shoulder. “I underestimated you,” she admits.

Shiro swallows to remain focused. “Surrender.”

“It’s too late.” The syringe in her hand is empty.

“Mom… mom, it hurts…”

She reserves a smirk to Shiro, before turning again and kneeling down. “I know, starlight. You just have to let everything out, and the pain will cease.”

Shiro recognizes Lotor and he frowns at the thought she used a drug or whatever Voltron is on her own son. Lotor is crying and he looks in pain. He’s trembling too.

“I… I’m not sure I can…”

“You can. Do it!”

Lotor’s eyes become entirely white and a dark figure flicks out of his shoulder. And Shiro understands.

“He is the exorcist!”

***

Keith stops struggling against his restraint.

He’s still stuck on that chair, and his attempt to break free only results in him falling on the ground still tied up, and he hasn’t been able to collect his knife or his cellphone from the pockets. The thought of Shiro with that woman keeps him going, but right now, his sensitive senses freeze in fear.

He feels a spiritual power around the building. At first, it appears with the same energy as a _famiglio_, but it is too strong. No exorcists will be crazy enough to put so much of their soul in a _famiglio_. And the energy isn't concentrated in only one spot, but it looks free to roam in the air. A _famiglio_ would be a concentrated form.

Keith has no idea about the source of spiritual energy. He only has the certainty he has to get out of there as soon as possible. He closes his eyes, tries to focus on the mantra Shiro taught him in the past, and the fear decreases enough for him to keep struggling.

He only manages to lose a bit the restraint around his ankles, when dark material erupts from the corners of the room and ejects to the ceiling, drooling. Keith can see the drops splash on the ground and burns it. The door is still free, so he can escape from it, but he needs more time to get free. He looks around at the dark material, seeing if he can use it to burn the duct tape, but as it collects himself to the center of the ceiling, bigger the drops become. They would burn his entire body before freeing him.

He kicks strong and finally, his ankles are free from the chair, even if still tied up together. He uses them to push himself towards the exit, but stop as he hears steps coming in his direction. He screams through his gag, hoping it isn’t Honerva all along, and takes a deep, relieved breath as Hunk appears on the door, his ghostbuster suit on and the sniper already in his hand.

“My God. Keith!”

Keith nods with his head at the ceiling and Hunk understands. He points the sniper and shot: the blue stroke of energy is enough for the dark material to retire. It disappears on the wall entirely as Keith feels the negative feeling leaving his body.

Hunk kneels next to him and rips off the tape on his mouth. “Ah, sorry!” he exclaims at Keith’s painful moan.

“Knife,” Keith just responds.

“Right.”

Hunk put the rifle away and dig into Keith’s pocket to recall it so he can cut the rest of the tape. He finishes the work and helps Keith to stand up in time for the other to arrive. Keith frowns as he sees Allura dressed in the ghostbuster suit, rifle in her hand.

“Keith, are you okay?” Pidge asks.

“Now, yes. What happened?”

“Shiro left a message in my voice mail,” she says. “He said he found Voltron. I tried to call him back, but the cellphone was off so I went to the agency.”

“I tracked your phone. Sorry,” Pidge comments, and she wasn’t sorry at all. “So we found out you’re here and at the same moment my equipment showed a peak of spiritual energy.”

“Allura wanted to help, so I suggest it to give her your suit,” Lance finished. “She’s pretty good, we should hire her.”

Keith reserves a small smile at Allura, who seems proud of it. “What is this dark matter? It’s not normal we see it, right?”

“No. It looks like an aborted _famiglio_, but it shouldn’t be so strong,” Keith answers. “Pidge. Can you detect the source of it?”

She nods. “It comes from the upper floor.”

“Let’s go then.”

They follows Allura in the right direction and, from time to time, they have to face the dark material that erupted from the wall. Keith can feel it before it attacks, so they’re ready to hit him with the energy of their backpack.

“You said it’s an aborted _famiglio_?” Lance asks.

“Sometimes, inexpert exorcist can’t make a _famiglio_,” Keith explains. “But they still separate a piece of their soul that ends up being just dark matter without any reason to live. It usually disappears within minutes. This… has the same energy, but it’s too strong, and it seems to be self-conscious too.”

“Do you think it’s related to Voltron?” Allura comments.

“I have no idea, but I don’t believe in coincidences.”

“What happened here? And where is Shiro?” Pidge sounds worried.

Keith grits his teeth. “It was the scientist, Zarkon’s wife, all along.”

“Honerva?” Allura’s voice is full of disbelieve.

He nods. “She controlled someway Shiro’s arm and she forced him to reveal where Voltron is. Using me.” He breathes hard. “He left with her so I have no idea about his whereabouts now. But if we don’t stop the dark material…”

Lance places a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’ll save him.”

“Coran hacked the security system of the Castle of Lions so we could be able to access without losing too much time,” Allura informs him. “He told me he registered three people on the upper floor. Shiro might be there.”

“Not good. We need to go there right now.” Keith walks faster.

Unfortunately, the dark material made the lift too dangerous to use, so they have to use the small emergency stairs. Once they reach the upper floor, they’re all out of breath, and tired for all the dark material they fight. Gritting his teeth, Keith forces himself to keep walking until the hall.

He pushes the door to enter and he freezes. The ceiling of the building is completely ripped off and the dark material is turning and twizzling around with the form of a giant cyclone, creating a cold wind around.

“Keith…”

A voice calls from him from the right side, and Keith turns. Shiro is there, sitting down next to the lift’s door, blood dripping out of his right shoulder. Keith rushes at his side. He immediately takes off his shirt to cover Shiro’s wounds.

“It isn’t bad as it looks,” Shiro smiles. “At least I’m free from my own arm.”

“Oh, Shiro’s here!” Lance happily announces, and the others surround him, relieved and worried at the same time.

“What happened?” Allura dares to ask, a worried look at the dark material behind them.

“Lotor… The son… he was the exorcist all along,” Shiro says.

“Well, it explains why he isn't registered,” Pidge comments.

“Voltron… I think it’s a formula for a kind of… doping or medicine? Honerva created it and injected her son with it. What you see it’s the result.”

They look up: on the floor, at the beginning of the cyclone, a small figure is barely visible. The dark material emits from him. On the other side of the hall, Honerva’s body lied down, her face mutilated and bloody. Hunk almost gags and Lance hides behind him.

“She was next to Lotor when the dark material took over,” Shiro told them. “I was lucky it doesn’t consider me a threat.”

“My father was working on creating something that can increased senses,” Allura comments. “To help people with a problem with sights, for example. It may be Voltron.”

“And it may increase the spiritual abilities too,” Pidge understands.

“I don’t think it’s the case,” Keith says. “It may increase it, but Lotor lost completely the ability to control it. He’s using too much soul, he’s risking to lose himself.”

“If we reach him, we can stop everything,” Pidge proposes.

“Uhm, guys? It may be harder than you think,” Hunk comments.

The cyclone has stopped moving and he finally gets his form. It’s like a gigantic version of Lotor’s _famiglio_, a snake with wings and tailor and claws. Lance swallows. “Are our traps strong enough to contain it?”

“No,” Pidge yells back, and she isn’t happy.

“What do we do?” Allura asks, to no particular anyone.

Keith turns to Shiro. “Honerva prepared only one dose of Voltron?”

“No, she has other two syringes with her.”

“Where are they?”

“In her pocket, I think.” Shiro’s eyes widened as he understands. “No, Keith. You can’t take it. Look what it did to Lotor!” The others aren’t so convinced too.

“We don’t have a choice,” Keith replies. “This _famiglio_ won’t let us escape. And after is done with us, wonder what he will do with the city.”

Lance bit his lips. “But you aren’t an exorcist. What Voltron can do to you?”

“Everything it can, I hope. Just… cover me.”

He moves towards Honerva’s body and he feels the _famiglio_’s eyes on him. The other starts shooting with their antimaterial rifles, enough to distract it. Keith places his hand on the pocket and finds out the cover with the syringe. Without thinking, he injects one of them in his arm.

At first, nothing happens but a small burn where the syringe pierced the skin. Then, Keith starts to feel everything amplified. His sight becomes better, he can ear even the shouting on the street and almost every fiber of his body is under his control. He slows down his heartbeat and concentrates as Kolivan and his mother taught him. He sees the form of his soul and separates a piece of it, a small ball that erupts out of his chest and it lands with grace on the floor as it turns into a giant black lion.

Keith doesn’t have to order it to do anything, because the lion attacks Lotor’s _famiglio_ by itself, turning his attention from the other ghostbusters. Keith runs to them: they are still unharmed.

“That is you _famiglio_?” Hunk asks. “Cool!”

“Are you okay?” Shiro’s eyes are on him, worried. “You look feverish.”

Keith nods. “Yes. I’m more experienced than Lotor, so I can control it better.”

“What we can do?” Lance says. The black lion is still fighting, but it doesn’t look it has an advantage.

“Lotor is using too much soul, so his _famiglio_ is more powerful. I can’t do the same,” Keith explains. “I need your help. Please, give me a piece of your soul.”

“Are you going to create our _famiglio_?” Pidge yells, excited.

“Sort of.”

“What are you waiting for?” And she lends him her hands.

One after another, Keith takes a piece of their soul, taking off in the form of a small ball, and create a lioness for each of them, with different colors. “Can you do it?” he asks Shiro, because he’s the one already debilitated by the wounds.

“Well, it’s not like you’re taking off another of my limbs, right?” he jokes. “And besides, I’ll be pretty offended if I would be the only one without a lion.”

“Well, you are the secretary…” Lance pointed out. “But I guess you can have one too,” as all the other shot him a meaningful look.

Shiro’s lion turns out white and it reaches the battle. Keith pants hard, realizing it’s pretty difficult to control six of them, even if five of them didn’t come out from his soul. And they’re still weaker than Lotor’s.

“What if we combine it?” Lance proposes. “Six souls can become stronger that one used too much, right?”

“Well, it’s like when you order pizza with different topping?” Hunk comments.

“Great. I’m hungry now.”

“I think it may work,” Allura says. “But I have no idea how to do that.”

“Keith?” Shiro asks.

“I think I can try to do it.”

Keith closes his eyes. His senses are still overwhelming and he can feel the breath and the heartbeat of the others. “Follow my breath,” he orders. Once they are all at his rhythm, he can focus on the six lions, and they merge naturally. The form they create isn’t a lion anymore, but more a human, and his size is bigger than Lotor’s.

“Can we call it Voltron?” Pidge proposes.

Voltron attacks Lotor’s _famiglio_, grabbing his claws so it can’t use it to attack, and then he pulls it backyards. Allura notices it isn’t connected anymore to Lotor, who now sits on the floor, paralyzed. She reaches for him. Lotor doesn’t seem to respond to her touch, but she still hugs him, rubbing his head and whispering reassuring words on it.

It is enough for the _famiglio_ to become even weaker. Voltron’s grip becomes stronger and tightens it until it breaks Lotor’s _famiglio_ in small pieces that fallen graciously around and disappears before toughing the ground.

“It’s okay. It’s over now,” Allura murmurs to Lotor.

Voltron separates itself and, one after another, the lion land in front of their owner and disappearing inside them. Black is the last one and Keith takes a long breath. The effects of the drug are still in his body, making his senses still too much overpowered. He kneels.

“You okay?” Shiro asks.

“That’s my line,” Keith replies.

Lance gets near to Allura. “Do you think he’ll be okay?” he asks. “I have two cousins of his age… I can’t imagine…”

Allura shakes her head. “I hope so.” Lotor is still in her arm, he stops crying but his body is completely still.

“Okay.” Pidge stretches her fingers. “How inappropriate am I if I tell you this all lions-thing was so cool?”

Hunk looked around, at the completely wrenched floor, at Lotor’s still body, at Shiro’s bloody arm, and at Honerva’s dead body.

“Iverson is _so_ going to arrest us.”

***

Shiro wakes up in the hospital bed. He takes some time for him to recall his consciousness entirely, between the foggy of the anesthesia and the long sleep. He watches down at his now empty right sleeve and, for a long instant, he panics, remembering the feeling of waking up after the accident.

A hand is placed on his left palm. Keith is here. He smiles.

“How are you feeling?”

“Good, I guess.” His throat is dry and he’s grateful Keith moves to take a glass of water.

As Shiro drinks, Keith explains, “The circuit of your prosthetic arm was damaged by Honerva’s hacking, so the doctor decided to remove it for now. Allura assured she’ll order a new, more advanced arm for you and Pidge will make sure it won’t be hacked again.”

“Well, it can be useful if we ever face another evil scientist,” Shiro coughs.

Keith isn’t too eager to joke on it. “The nerves of your right shoulder are damaged too. You will face at least another surgery before you can have the prosthetic.”

“Yeah, stabbing myself wasn’t the brightest idea of my arsenal, still…” He looks at Keith and he’s happy to see there aren’t signs left on his neck. “What about you? What Voltron did?”

“From the doctor’s analysis and Honerva’s researches that the police found in her laptop, Voltron is a stimulant. Not a drug, so no addiction effects. More like doping. But apparently, it works better for spiritual senses or something like that.”

“This is why Alfor hid it. He didn’t consider it a medicine, but a weapon.”

“This is the closest guess. But Honerva found out and used her son to kill first Alfor and then Zarkon himself. Alfor just wanted to protect Lotor…”

Shiro shudders in his bed. “What the hell Honerva was trying to do?”

“Dunno.” Keith scoffs. “But I have a guess.”

“You’re going to tell me or you just like to play mysterious?”

Keith smiles. “She was a scientist. She probably didn’t believe in the spiritual world until she found out about his son’s power. The thought she could control the spiritual world through the power of science made her frantic. Most of her researches are delirious.”

“I see.” He frowns. “What about Allura?”

“She’s busy with the Castle of Lion’s company. What happened had been a big shock for everyone, but she won’t let it down. Coran is giving her a big hand.”

“I’m pretty sure she’ll pull it off. And Lotor?”

“The Children Care is looking after him, but luckily Voltron didn’t do too many damages. He’ll recover, but it’ll take time.”

Shiro is an expert in needing time to recover, so he just nods and lets the conversation moving on lightly matters. “I don’t see any handcuff, so Iverson didn’t manage to arrest us? Not even this time?”

“Well, he tried.” Keith laughs. “But, I mean, the entire city saw Lotor’s _famiglio_ and Voltron… it’s not like he can negate it.”

“So… we were lucky.”

Keith shots him a glare. He takes Shiro’s hand in his own. “You had me worried there.”

“Before or after my hand tried to kill you?” Shiro jokes. Keith doesn’t look amused, so Shiro’s expression softens and he smiles. “I’m okay. For real.”

Keith nods. “I… I know you want to be on the field again,” he murmurs. “You deserve it. One with your expertise will certainly find a security job or something like that more… normal.”

“And what are you gonna do with the agency? You need a secretary too.”

Keith snorts. “We’ll find a way, because the others suck with public relations.”

“You sucks too,” Shiro points out, with an amused smile.

“Yeah, that’s the reason I hired you as our poster boy in the first place.”

“The only reason?”

“You mean, another one but having you around so I can look at six feet of handsome man every time I like?”

Shiro laughs. “Fair enough. And I can’t complain about the view too. Will you keep my hand when I’ll be on surgery?”

“I can do better.”

Keith leans his palm forward. Black smoke erupts from it and it twists around until it becomes a lion, small as a hand. The lion flies and curls on Shiro’s chest and he holds his breath, remembering it is a piece of Keith’s soul.

“If Allura permits it, you should change the agency’s name with the Castle of Lions.”

“Pidge proposed Voltron.”

Shiro snorts. “Voltron is the name of the team.”

Keith smiles and the lion purrs. “Team Voltron from the Castle of Lions Agency. We can work on it.”

And he looks softly, with a smile on his face, a secret question for Shiro to stay with them. Shiro tightens the grip on his hand.

***

It’s a boring day.

Well, it has been a boring week. One can imagine that after all the publicity that the entire event with the Castle of Lions and the giant famiglio more people would start to believe in ghosts and come to their ghostbuster agency for help. Instead, they only got the worst out of it, and most people consider that it was a publicity move. Shiro’s shoulder disagrees. Their last work turns out to be just an electricity failure, so the owner didn’t even pay them, and although Hunk actually repaired it.

With a sigh, Shiro closes his laptop. He takes the folder and climbs the stairs to reach the mansard, Except Keith, who was out for a commission, the others are there. Lance is sprawling on the sofa; next to him, Hunk is leafing through a book, while Pidge, on the floor, is playing with her Playstation Portable. They all shot a look at Shiro.

“What’s that?” Lance asks, pointing at the folder Shiro has in his hand.

“It’s the list of the expenses cut we need to do if we want to survive until we find a customer that actually pays us,” Shiro answers.

“Again?” Hunk protests. “Allura paid us tons of money. How it is possible we are again in this kind of situation?”

“Well, for example, Lance uses part of his money to buy a Jacuzzi,” Shiro points out.

“Hey. It is best for taking my body safe and sound. Damn, you made me met Allura after only a shower,” Lance grumbles.

“Which results in Lance doing five bathes at day instead of five showers,” Shiro concludes, ignoring Lance’s protest entirely.

“Okay, but it can’t be enough to spend all your money,” Hunk replies.

“Please, ask Pidge and the fact that she basically bought the entire Game Stop’s warehouse last week. Even videogames she already has.”

“They are special edition!” Pidge exclaims.

Shiro is not impressed. “Three special editions of the same videogame? Come on.”

“Okay, maybe three of the same was a little bit over the top…” she admits.

“And Hunk,” Shiro returns his gaze on him, “we ordered food at the top restaurants in town for three weeks straight.”

“After almost a month of precooked food, you can’t complain.”

“Maybe not, but we’ll soon return to our nice instant ramen.”

“Oh, come on,” Lance exhales. “I’m pretty sure we still have some money left.”

“Most of them is necessary to pay for the new prosthetic arm of the agency’s secretary,” Shiro says. “Which, if you don’t remember, he’s me. And I’m pretty sure you don’t want to risk it being hacked again by an evil scientist.”

“Oh.” Lance hums for a second, under the disapproving look of Hunk and Pidge. “Please remember me the reason we hire you in the first place?”

“Because apparently Keith likes having me around,” Shiro replies.

“Well, that I can understand,” Lance admits. “Hey, by the way, what does Keith pay with his part of the money?”

Nothing. The answer is nothing because Keith uses his entire part for the medical expenses of Shiro, even if Allura offered to pay for it. Before he can find a way to answer, Pidge coughs.

“Uhm, guys… We might have a new client.”

She’s looking troughs the open window. Shiro moves next to her. A limousine parks next to the pedestrian, in front of the agency. It’s a black car, not a stain on it.

“Nah,” Hunk says. “It’s impossible.”

A young boy with dark red hair opens the back door of the car, so the passenger can get off. It’s a young woman, with long blonde hair put in two tails. She’s short, almost childish, with her short pink dress, a curious gaze in her blue eyes. She’s cute.

“My God,” Lance exhales. “She’s Romelle Polluk.”

“Who?” Pidge asks.

“She’s, like, my favorite singer. She’s an idol, you know. And pretty cute. And… Like, I have her CDs in my room.”

Oh, that is why Shiro thinks she looks familiar. He keeps his eyes on her as she and the boy with her exchanges look between them. Then, hand in hand, they move to open the door of the agency and disappear inside.

“She mistakes our place,” Hunk says. “There is no other explanation.”

“Well, do you think I can take the chance and ask her to sing for me?” After Pidge’s look, he corrects himself, “at least an autograph?”

“No. Let Shiro handle this. He’s our poster’s boy, remember.”

Sometimes Shiro wonders how he ends up in that role, after being a top star class fighter pilot. But, as he climbs down the stairs, he reflects he has his answers already. He likes working for the agency. He likes the job, he likes the employees, and he loves Keith.

And despite the fact that they can get a job that will bring him to face another terrible supernatural creature or another evil scientist, there isn’t another place he wants to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized posting this that my love for Six of Crows may have suggested the idea behind Voltron here XD


End file.
